The New ASU Story:
Athletes

The first organized competitive sport was baseball (1891), followed by football (1896) and then women's basketball (1899). Most early games were played against the local high schools, but the “Big Game” against the University of Arizona football team was first played in 1899. Competitive sports were also played between ASU classes, and intramural and recreational sports were also offered. ASU sports teams were nicknamed the Normals, the Bulldogs (1922), and the Sun Devils (1946) and they were members of the Border Conference (1931), the Western Athletic Conference (1962), and finally the Pacific Athletic Conference, now recognized as the PAC-10 (1978). Support for women's sports scholarships and sport teams improved greatly when in 1972 the Title IX clause prohibited sex discrimination in federally financed programs.

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